Similar Phenomena
In the United States, Really Really Free Market groups organize periodic "market days" in city parks. Participants are encouraged to share unneeded items, food, skills and talents (entertainment, haircutting, etc.), to clean up after themselves and to take home any of their own items they were unable to give away during the event. In other cases, used goods are picked up from the donors' homes, thus eliminating overhead costs. Donors are often not motivated by financial need or strictly anti-capitalist conviction, but by a desire to get rid of what would otherwise be garbage without adding it to landfills.
Another recent development in the give-away shop movement is the creation of the Freecycle Network. It was started in Arizona for the purpose of connecting people who had extra belongings to get rid of with people who needed something, organized as discussion/distribution lists, and usually hosted on one of the free websites.
In 2007 a similar concept began to flourish in Devon, England where a group of free-bookshops called Book-Cycle began; A volunteer-run registered charity, that gives books and trees away in exchange for a donation. Any proceeds are then used to send free books to developing countries and plant trees in the local area. Helpful hints and tips on how to set up a free bookshop are given on their website. .
Read more about this topic: Give-away Shop
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